Without limiting the scope of the invention, its background is described in connection with liquid-phase separations of organic isomers by selective room-temperature adsorption using Mg-CUK-1 prepared by aqueous microwave synthesis.
A number of porous coordination polymers (PCPs) have been shown to possess the ability to effectively separate complex mixtures of gases and less commonly, mixtures of liquid hydrocarbons. The latter represents a tangible application for such materials, especially to achieve separations that cannot be easily performed using common large-scale separation methods (e.g., column chromatography, ion exchange, fractional distillation). One such example concerns the separation of isomers of divinylbenzene (DVB): p-DVB is important in the manufacture of cross-linked styrene polymers, which, paradoxically, are utilized in the manufacture of ion exchange resins. DVB is prepared by dehydrogenation of crude o-, m- and p-isomer mixtures of diethylbenzene. Commercially-available DVB consists of approximately 80% m-DVB and p-DVB along with the products of partial dehydrogenation, m- and p-ethylvinylbenzene (EVB) and naphthalene. From an industrial standpoint, pure p-DVB is most preferred for the formation of ordered cross-linked styrene/p-DVB copolymers, but large-scale separation approaches have proven to be inefficient.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,910,732, entitled “Method for producing porous metal-organic framework materials,” discloses processes for preparing a porous metal-organic framework comprising at least two organic compounds coordinated to at least one metal ion, the porous metal-organic frameworks prepared by the process and their use, in particular for gas storage and gas separation.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,879,221, entitled “Process for preparing porous metal organic frameworks,” discloses a process for preparing a porous metal organic framework comprising at least two organic compounds coordinated to at least one metal ion, which comprises the steps (a) oxidation of at least one anode comprising the metal corresponding to at least one metal ion in a reaction medium in the presence of at least one first organic compound which is an optionally substituted monocyclic, bicyclic or polycyclic saturated or unsaturated hydrocarbon in which at least two ring carbons have been replaced by heteroatoms selected from the group consisting of N, O and S to form a reaction intermediate comprising the at least one metal ion and the first organic compound; and (b) reaction of the reaction intermediate at a prescribed temperature with at least one second organic compound which coordinates to the at least one metal ion, with the second organic compound being derived from a dicarboxylic, tricarboxylic or tetracarboxylic acid.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 2013/0129608 entitled “Porous coordination polymer, process for producing same, gas storage method, and gas separation method,” discloses a porous coordination polymer that includes metal complexes formed by coordination bonding between a trivalent metal ion and an aromatic tricarboxylic acid. The porous coordination polymer also has a pore structure formed by integration of a plurality of the metal complexes. The entire contents of each of which are incorporated herein by reference.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2011/0138999 entitled “Metal organic framework polymer mixed matrix membranes,” discloses a metal-organic framework (MOF)-polymer mixed matrix membranes (MOF-MMMs) prepared by dispersing high surface area MOFs into a polymer matrix. The MOFs allow the polymer to infiltrate the pores of the MOFs, which improves the interfacial and mechanical properties of the polymer and in turn affects permeability for gas separation applications such as CO2 removal from natural gas. The entire contents of each of which are incorporated herein by reference.